Thursday, September 21, 2017

A) Adapt a scene from a
movie, television show, comic book, or video game into a FIVE page
podcast script. If you want to use correct audio script format, feel
free (and see #3 on Assignment Page), but proper format is NOT required.

Pick
a scene that presents some narrative challenges (after the visual
information is eliminated), and/or offers a variety of acoustic
opportunities (i.e. don't just pick a scene in which two characters are
talking in a empty room). In a fictional podcast, narration is often
considered a crutch (though it's much more acceptable here than in
film); unless it's something that already contains lots of
narration/voice over, shoot for as little narration as possible.

Feel
free to massage/revise the dialogue to include/articulate information
that is removed with the visuals. For instance, in the light saber fight
at the end of NPR's audio version of The Empire Strikes Back, Luke
additionally yells, "My hand! My hand!" and Vader responds, "Yes, your
sword hand, you can't fight without it!"

Choose something
you're semi-obsessed with, as you're next assignment will be to write a
fan fic podcast script from your source material.

NOTE:
Sometimes something that is indelibly visual, Jaws, for instance, or, as
I suggested in class, Empire Strikes Back, will surprise you with it's
audial vitality. Jaws is all about sounds. The famous Duh Nuh that
signals the shark’s arrival is easily as effective, maybe even more so,
than the mechanical maw itself. Williams’ two note signature is, of
course, hugely important, but so is the light lapping of water against a
clanging buoy.

In the opening scene, ALL the noises—musical and
atmospheric—create a sense of isolation well before the low pulse of
strings creep in. And even prior to Chrissie Watkins' fateful flailing,
she’s sitting around a bonfire with friends, enveloped by the sound of
aimless conversation, acoustic guitar, and crackling firewood. Jaws was
made to be a radio drama. Empire, too. Empire is highly visual of
course, but think of the all the distinct sounds: from the Imperial
March and Vader's labored breathing to R2D2's chirping and Chewie's
incredible range of grunts and growls, which, at various times, were one
of three different bears, a badger, a lion, a seal, and a walrus from
Long Beach (or some combination of all five).

Post script below as a google.doc (or e-mail it to me at raconteurbooks@gmail.com)

Students MUST post reactions ( minimum 250 words) to the reading/listening linked below.Students are encouraged (but not required) to additionally respond to other student reactions.

A Brief History of NPR’s Star Wars: In 1981, NPR affiliate station KUSC, based at George Lucas’ alma mater,
the University of Southern California, hatched a bold plan to adapt
Lucas’ Star Wars for radio.

Easily the most visual film of the past decade, Star Wars as a listening experience seemed like an unlikely idea, but Lucas sold NPR and KUSC the rights to adapt the hit movie for one dollar, and opened the Lucasfilm vaults to the show’s producers: the Star Wars sound effects would be available to them in their raw form, along with
every note of John Williams’ music, including selections that had yet to
appear on an album.The somewhat unenviable task of translating a
visual-effects-heavy blockbuster to the spoken word was given to writer
Brian Daley.

Click heading to read the rest of the article.

Click HERE to listen to the first 30 minute episode (featuring the ice planet Hoth and the Wampa attack) or HERE
for the final 30 minute episode (featuring the final saber battle
between Skywalker & Vader) of The Empire Strikes Back from KUSC's STAR WARS: The Original Radio Drama.

Thursday, September 7, 2017

Children's books are full of sounds. The "terrible" roars in Where the Wild Things Are, the Super-Axe-Hacker thwacking the Truffalu Trees in The Lorax, the mud, the river, the snowstorm in We're Going On a Bear Hunt. Adapt a children's
book into a 2 - 3 pg podcast SCRIPT.

Don't worry about correct
format.

Include the text (imagine it being read aloud), and the sounds indicated
by the text, but also do your best to convey the mood/content of the
illustrations with ambient
(ex: rain) and musical beds (a loop or track of sound that plays
underneath voices during
spoken elements) and discrete, discontinous sound effects (ex: a dog
bark or a gun
shot).

Search the illustrations for sounds NOT announced by the text. Be as
specific as possible i.e. don't just say "opening music," name a
particular song, and if a "monster" is roaring, as in Sendak's Wild Things,
precisely indicate what sound you'd use to evoke it (don't just say
"roar.") Be creative. For instance King Kong was famously a mix of a
tiger growl played backwards and a lion roar played forward; the Rancor
in Empire Strikes Back was a slowed-down chiwawa, and the velociraptors
in Jurassic Park were, at various points, a horse breathing, a goose
hissing, and a tortoise having sex.

Students MUST post reactions ( minimum 250 words) to the listening linked below.Students are encouraged (but not required) to additionally respond to other student reactions.

The old-time radio era, sometimes referred to as the Golden Age of Radio, refers to a period of radio programming
in the United States lasting from the proliferation of radio
broadcasting in the early 1920s until the 1950s, when television
superseded radio as the medium of choice for scripted programming and
radio shifted to news, sports and playing popular music.
During this period, when radio was dominant and filled with a variety
of formats and genres, people regularly tuned into their favorite radio
programs. According to a 1947 C. E. Hooper survey, 82 out of 100 Americans were found to be radio listeners. (Wikipedia)

Click HERE
and scroll down to browse the Old Time Radio archive; then
select/listen to two eps from two different serials (eps are roughly 20
min). One of my favorites is Inner Sanctum.

TURN YOUR RADIO ON AND HIDE.

THE CLASS

The course will focus on the rise of the modern fictional podcast from its roots in Golden Age radio drama. Students will listen and respond to several vintage radio dramas and modern fictional podcasts. Students will prepare a handful of sonic adaptations and write/produce several original podcasts, as well as one video. The course will also consider other forms of multimedia composition, including graphic narrative and video game storytelling. The course will be punctuated by live performances of classic radio dramas and digital/in-person visits by relevant industry professionals.

SAS CORE GOALS:

This course addresses the following SAS Common Core Curriculum Goals:

AH r: “Students will engage critically in the process of creative expression.”

ITR y: “Employ current technologies to access information, to conduct research, and to communicate findings.”

Note: This class operates as a “Mac shop” - meaning that the programs and equipment that will be covered will be Apple brand. The skills that are obtained in the course are transferrable to a PC environment. All of the equipment for the course will be provided through Writers House and the Plangere Culture Lab.